31 2 LAKES AND STREAMS 



and anger, and is heard at the departure of the birds in autumn as well as on 

 their arrival in spring. When a stork stands on one leg to rest, the beak, instead 

 of being hidden in the feathers of the back like other birds, is laid among 

 the long neck-plumes. 



Although storks have become rare in many parts of Germany, a number of 

 nests having remained unoccupied for many years, they are still common in Prussia, 

 Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Hanover, Oldenburg, and Westphalia, although 

 in central and southern Germany they are less numerous than formerly. In France 

 and Spain they are by no means frequent, and in England are very rare, although 

 abundant in Holland, Denmark, and Poland. They are also common in many parts 

 of Austria-Hungary ; in Turkey they are held sacred on account of their destroying 

 locusts, but in Greece, where they are called the " Turk-bird," they are detested and 

 persecuted. From Kussia, where in some parts they abound, their range extends to 

 western Asia, and thence north to the 57th parallel of latitude. In winter storks 

 visit the greater part of Africa. 



The black stork (C. nigra) is found in the same localities as the 

 black kite, and its distributional area is much the same as that of 

 the white stork, although it does not extend farther north than central Sweden. 

 Eastwards this species is met with in northern China, and it journeys as far south 

 as Cape Colony. The black stork is a much rarer bird than the white species, and 

 unlike the latter invariably shuns human habitations, frequenting the neighbour- 

 hood of large rivers and sheets of water, although occasionally seen in forests on 

 the plains. The nest is placed on the largest and highest forest-trees, not at 

 the top, but on a strong bough close to the stem. It is of large size, in one 

 instance between 5 and 6 feet across and 2 feet high, and consists of sticks and 

 turfs with an upper layer of green moss. The eggs, when held to the light, are 

 greenish, whereas those of the white stork are yellowish, this being the only 

 difference between the two. While the female is on the eggs the male stands by 

 her side, and the young, unlike those of the white stork, have a sort of call. The 

 food is always fish when procurable, but when none can be obtained, recourse is 

 had to small mammals and reptiles. 



We now come to a familiar and characteristic frequenter of the 

 banks of European waters, namely, the heron (Ardea cinerea), which 

 is to be seen by the side of rivers, lakes, and salt-lagoons, wherever human beings 

 are not too numerous and fish are plentiful. It avoids, however, marshes and 

 swamps choked with water-plants, and generally nests in company on the oldest 

 and highest trees. The large flat nest, which is occupied for about five weeks, by 

 which time the young are fully fledged, is nearly a yard across, and built of diy 

 fcwigs, turf, moss, feathers, hair, and other substances, and in April contains from 

 three to five greenish blue eggs, which, like those of the black stork, are greenish 

 when held up to the light. The young are at first fed from the crops of the 

 old birds, which take the beaks of their offspring bodily into their own, and 

 then force in the food, although later on they only chew the food intended for 

 the young. Their food consists mainly of fish, but includes frogs, water-insects, 

 worms and snails, as well as mice and small birds. A heron on the feed paces 



